The Bakery Everything CakePHP

In the summer of '09 we (http://www.pumpinteractive.ca) decided to build an internal project to build an alternative revenue stream.

Why Cakephp?

The MVC approach keeps code organized and cakephp helpers and features allow to rapidly deploy web applications.

What is Tripeo?

Tripeo (http://www.tripeohotelreviews.com) is a community for travellers to share their experiences and reviews for hotels, resorts, and accommodations.

Things We Used

Cakephp (Obviously)
Facebook Connect
Sluggable Behavior
Meoi Upload Behavior
Cropping Behavior (had to basically recode this)
Open X adserver
Google Maps
Slideshow Pro
Sifr
SQL editor for Mac
Photoshop
Coda For Mac

Planning + Process

Since their was no client input we streamlined the process:

Wireframes and IA:

We start all projects with wireframes that outline the feature set and the information architecture.

Database Design:

Using a visual database design tool (SQL Editor for Mac) we layout out the database that reflected the feature set and Cakephp conventions

Bake:

After uploading the SQL to the Mysql database we baked the project with the command line bake utility.

Visuals:

We designed the core pages in photoshop (Around 8)

Html/CSS/Javascript

We html/css'ed the web comps seperate from the project and fixed cross browser issues with these standalone html pages. We found this to save alot of qa and cross browser trouble shooting at the end of the project.

Development

We essentially built out the pages ala white label (no graphics or layout) and skinned the pages after the business logic was completed.

SEO Friendly

Using the Sluggable behaviour and routing, dynamic page, strategic internal linking and W3C compliant code we have built a site with Search being a high priority.

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

Our next steps are to work on marketing the site and building an online community for people to share their vacation stories and nightmares.

Aaron Caldwell
Partner/Pump Interactive
http://www.pumpinteractive.ca